Tag: sleep
Want to sleep peacefully? Pray this prayer of the night
My dear God in heaven, O Creator, O One who loved me into being… Now that the voices are silenced and the crowded world of projects and overwhelming noise is hushed, here, at my bed, I seek your consolation. My spirit roots for you, as an infant seeks out the breast, seeks you as a… Read More ›
Compunction: the moment of awakening
In traditional monastic language the great means of ending our complacent slumbers was the sting of compunction. The Latin word compunctio means a piercing; it is like sticking a pin in somebody with the purpose of waking them up. Compunction, involves a moment of awakening, the first glimmer of enlightenment, the dawning of a new… Read More ›
Let us finally arise
Now, therefore, let us finally arise. Scripture stirs us up saying, “Now is the hour to rise from sleep.” (RB Prologue) No call is resisted and resented so fully as the call to wake up. So we need not be surprised if we do not want to be stirred into action, especially when we do… Read More ›
Pay Attention and Be on Guard
(Abba John) related with regard to another old man living in the desert, that he had asked God to grant him never to become sleepy during a spiritual conference, but, if someone uttered slanderous or useless words, to be able to go to sleep at once, so that his ears should never be touched by… Read More ›